


The box

by justelaura



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Malec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 06:16:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15813132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justelaura/pseuds/justelaura
Summary: One night, Magnus opened the box again...





	The box

At first, Magnus didn't know if it was the thunder or a nightmare who woke him up in the middle of the night. He just felt lost and confused, trying to catch his breath as the lack of air was burning his lungs. The deafening noise of the storm outside was giving him headaches. Magnus knew in advance that sleep will escape from him for a long time so he left his bed. The apartment was colder than his sheets and he had to put on a robe, he was already starting to shiver. 

He was just supposed to drink some water to clear his mind but he suddenly needed to do something. He didn't know why, he just knew he had to. Maybe it'll help to make disappear this feeling of tightness in his chest. He went in front of his bookcases and, without a moment's hesitation, he took the box which was neatly placed on a shelf and brought it with him in the living room. 

He took a deep breath and opened the box again, letting the memories come in waves. He looked at the pictures, the tiny objects and the letters, allowing himself to be nostalgic. All of this was a very long time ago...

And then he found it. This precious item. This painful memory. His fingers brushed the shape of it and he finally held it in his hands. He stopped breathing for an instant, overwhelmed by too many contradictory emotions.

It was a simply arrowhead. It wasn't supposed to be that important but it was. It really was. Magnus will always cherish it even if seeing it was slowly breaking his heart. Delicately, he rotated the arrowhead through his fingers, being careful not to hurt himself. The tip was still sharp. 

It had happened decades ago but Magnus remembered that night with an absolute precision. He went from hell and back, begging his father to give him more powers so he could save Jace. He made this awful deal with Asmodeus and left Edom only to find his true love badly injured and dying. His magic was gone and Magnus had to realize the hard way how powerless he was because of this double-edge accord.

He had a long life behind him but it clearly was the worst night of his whole existence. It still gave him nightmares, leaving him out of breath with the feeling of being alone, surrounded by the darkness. 

It was a long time ago... Why this wound was still opened ? Magnus still needed to cope with this memory.

Someone embraced him from behind and Magnus felt safe and appeased again. Alexander. He closed his eyes and rested his head against Alec's chest.

“ There you are. ” Alec whispered, the kids were still sleeping so he couldn't raise his voice. “Sleep troubles ?” He asked and Magnus nodded. 

Alec gave him a tender kiss on the cheek, acting like a worried husband and Magnus started smiling. 

“ I'm fine, I swear.” And Magnus wasn't lying, he felt actually so much better. 

He closed the box and turned around to observe Alec, who looked a little sleepy. The storm probably awakened him and when he saw he was in an empty bed, he decided to find Magnus. That was kind of him. Sometimes, Magnus dealt alone with his emotions and when he came back to their room, Alec was still asleep... But most of the time Alec felt his husband's absence and joined him. Magnus was happy to have some company so they stayed together and talked about everything. And sometimes, Magnus was the one to wake up alone and search for his other half to help him feel better.

Fortunately for them, it wasn’t a recurrent problem, they didn't have to repeat this ritual every single night. At least, not anymore.

“ I still can't believe you really kept it.” Alec admitted, mentioning the arrowhead. “ I thought you were joking when you said you needed it.”

“ I need it.” Magnus confirmed while wrapping Alec's waist with his arms, pulling him close. “ To remind me that even death can't tear us apart.”

He leaned in for a kiss and Alec let him doing so, kissing him back and resting his hands on Magnus' neck. Their love was obvious, spontaneous and crystal clear, they didn't have to use words to explain their feelings. One look was enough, they knew the other by heart and easily understood when and how they needed to show some support. Magnus was right, nothing could make their paths go separate ways. They had to be together, it could not be otherwise. 

“ I'm too stubborn to leave you here without me.” Alec said, letting their foreheads towards each other and Magnus giggled. 

“ I know that.”

He was playing with Alec's messy hair, twirling strands between his fingers and Alec was just contemplating him, endlessly falling in love. An affectionate smile appeared on Magnus' face, where else in the world would he want to go when he could just stay in Alec's arms ?

“ It's late, we should go to sleep if we want to remain the best parents ever.” Magnus joked now that he felt the need to sleep again. Alec laughed and gave him another quick kiss before they came back to their bedroom together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it !  
> You can find me on Twitter (@Onceuponavideo1) and Tumblr (@Onceuponavideo)


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